


Celebrating Too Late

by thatcrazywriterley



Series: The Too Late Tales [18]
Category: AEW, All Elite Wrestling, Being The Elite (Web Series)
Genre: Multi, Nick is a grill master, Polyamorous Relationships, Polyamory, Pool Party, brothers share a wife, it's reader's birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:14:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23885812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatcrazywriterley/pseuds/thatcrazywriterley
Summary: It's Reader's birthday, and Matt and Nick have several surprises in store.
Relationships: Matt Jackson/Reader, Matt Jackson/Reader/Nick Jackson, Nick Jackson/Reader
Series: The Too Late Tales [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695274
Kudos: 6





	Celebrating Too Late

_(GIF owned by russelldearest on Tumblr)_

“Shh,” Nick said, his finger to his lips as he walked down the hallway beside his seven-year-old daughter, Mattie. She was carrying a tray with a plate laden down with piping hot scrambled eggs, fresh, crisp bacon, and toast with strawberry jam. Nicole carried a bouquet of red and yellow tulips and daisies. Lee clutched a card that was nearly as big as he was. Baby RJ was settled on his Dada’s hip, tugging on Nick’s ponytail and trying to get his glasses.

Nick carefully pushed the bedroom door open, glad to find Matt already sitting up in the bed next to their wife. Lee skipped around his Dada’s legs and went straight for his Papa, tossing the oversized card on the floor and reaching for Matt.

“C’mon, little guy,” Matt whispered, leaning over the edge of the bed for the card. He looked up at his brother, grinning as he nudged his wife gently in the shoulder. “Y/N? It’s time to wake up, Mama.”

***

Matt’s voice drew me out of a dream. The moment I found consciousness again, I lost every detail of it. Instead, I took in the details of the room around me. Matt sat in the bed beside me, hair mussed from sleep, Lee in his lap, a gigantic card sitting on his legs. Nick stood at the side of the bed, RJ on his hip, looking adorably handsome in his glasses. Mattie and Nicole were still in their PJs, one with a tray of food, the other with a bouquet of flowers.

“Happy birthday to you…” Nick began, the girls joining in with Matt. Lee tried to sing, but he didn’t know the words and he kept getting distracted by Matt wiggling his toes beneath the blanket. When the song was over, Nick helped Mattie put the tray on my lap.

“Happy birthday, Mommy,” Mattie said with a big smile. “Dad and I made breakfast for you.”

Nicole held up the flowers, grinning proudly. “Me and Papa got fwowers.” I took the bouquet and held it up to my nose, breathing in the scent of the tulips and daisies.

“Lee and RJ helped with the card,” Matt said from beside me, bouncing our son on his knee. “Well, Lee picked it out. RJ just tried to eat the corner.”

I smiled, even as tears blurred my vision. “You guys didn’t have to do this,” I sniffled as Matt and Lee ripped the baby blue envelope open. The card was a foot-and-a-half tall and almost a foot wide, dark blue with shades of light blue and gold on the front. _Today’s Kind of a Big Deal_ it read. Matt got it open despite Lee’s “help.” On the inside, it said _So are YOU_ , surrounded by handwritten messages from my husbands and my kids. Matt’s looping script took up half of the inside flap, Nick’s spiky scrawl the other half. Mattie had written a birthday message in her careful seven-year-old handwriting just above a drawing of Bandit, Ranger, and Oreo that Nicole had done. Lee had scribbled a circle, RJ jagged lines.

The tears flowed down my face as I read the messages of love and devotion from Matt and Nick. I wiped my eyes and smiled at them all. “This is the best birthday,” I said. Matt took the card and Nick picked up the bouquet, saying something about putting it in a vase, as I started in on breakfast. “Oh, this bacon is perfect.”

Mattie grinned up at Nick, proud to have helped make my birthday breakfast.

***

The sun was bright overhead later that afternoon. RJ napped in my mother-in-law’s arms, full from his recent feeding. Matt was in the pool with Mattie and Nicole. He stayed close to Nicole in her ballerina floaties and watched Mattie do flips and handstands. Our girl was like a fish. She’d started swimming when she was two and never stopped. Lee was keeping my father-in-law busy at the playset. I leaned against the side of the house, watching Nick man the grill.

Barefoot, in a tank top and swim trunks, Nick flipped burgers and hot dogs. He closed the lid of the grill and looked back, smiling at me then looking past me. “Where is he? I can keep these warm, but they’re gonna be burnt by the time he shows up.”

While we’d invited my mother, sister, and her husband and kids, they lived in Georgia now and it was harder for them to visit than before. Neither of Matt and Nick’s siblings could make it to the cookout, but they’d also invited Kenny, who was flying back from Winnipeg and was stopping over in California for a visit.

“It’s Kenny,” I said, resting my palm on the small of Nick’s back. “He’s not going to care.”

Nick waved the spatula in my direction. “But I care… _Nick Jackson_ does _not_ serve _burnt_ food from his grill.”

Matt Sr. laughed from the playset, where he was pushing Lee on a swing. “He gets that from me, Y/N,” he said with pride.

***

Kenny showed up fifteen minutes later, wholly apologetic and bearing an armload of gifts. The moment Nicole saw him, she splashed desperately, begging her Papa to get her out of the pool, wailing “Unca Kenny!” at the top of her lungs. Joyce took the gifts while I tossed him a towel just in time to catch a sopping wet Nicole.

“Hey, Nik,” Kenny said, a broad smile on his face. He wrapped her in the towel and held her up on his hip, not caring that his shirt was sodden. “Happy birthday, Y/N.”

“Thanks, Ken.” I looked him over, hoping that he was on the tail end of something happy rather than something sad.

He carried Nicole over to the grill, fist-bumping Nick as he got close. “Are those burgers a little crisp?”

Nick swatted at Kenny with the dish towel over his shoulder. “Shut your mouth. That’s almost as bad as Y/N cursing Lee to be a Laker’s fan.”

“She didn’t!” Kenny gasped dramatically, winking before he walked around to the head of the pool, where Matt and Mattie were racing from one end of the pool to the other. Of course, Matt gave our daughter a _giant_ head start, but she was such a good swimmer that I was pretty sure one day soon, she wouldn’t need it.

“Food’s ready,” Nick said, propping the spatula on a platter full of perfectly grilled burgers and hot dogs. He clapped his hands twice and let out a whistle. “Let’s do it, Jacksons!”

Mattie pulled herself out of the pool, taking the towel Matt held out. Nicole wriggled in Kenny’s hold, leaning toward Nick. Matt Sr. got Lee out from the baby swing and followed behind as he toddled over toward us. Bringing up the rear was Matt, who slipped by me into the house after dropping a kiss on my forehead.

One by one, everyone got their food. Mattie wanted a double cheeseburger. Nicole wanted a hot dog with mustard and chili. Lee ended up with a cut up hot dog and half a hamburger patty with ketchup. Kenny, my in-laws, and Nick loaded up their own plates. Between the two of them, Kenny and Nick had four hamburgers and three hotdogs. I made a plate for Matt and another for myself.

“Table it,” Nick said firmly. Mattie lead the way to the picnic tables we’d set out on the concrete patio. Once the kids were sitting down, Nick and I brought over drinks and sippy cups. Matt Sr. said grace, and still Matt was in the house.

I turned to go check on him, only to see him walking out of the kitchen with a sheet cake in his hands. They’d put two candles on the top, the number ones that read my age. As soon as Matt started over, Joyce started singing _Happy birthday_. The cake made its way to the end of the picnic table and sat it down in front of me. I blinked back tears.

I looked up to see Joyce taking pictures, standing back far enough to get shots of everyone around the table. Matt and Nick stood on either side of me, beaming happily as I leaned over to blow out the candles. As soon as the flames were out, Nick plucked one of the candles from the cake and held it up to me to lick the icing off the bottom. I never got to it.

I was suddenly gathered up, carried between the two of them toward the pool.

“Don’t you dare! Nick! Matt! Don’t!” I squealed, kicking and trying to get away from them. “ _Don’t!_ ”

They grinned at one another, leaned in and pressed kisses against my cheeks. “Happy birthday, Mama,” Matt said.

“Remember we love you, Sunshine,” Nick added.

Before I knew it, I was being flipped head over heels into the pool. I hit the water feet and butt first, spluttering and coughing as I wiped my eyes. As soon as I could see, I saw my husbands standing on the edge of the pool, crouched down, each one reaching an arm for me. I didn’t even think twice. I took their hands, planted my feet against the side of the pool, and pulled. They both hit the water headfirst.

“Remember I love you, boys,” I said saucily, heaving myself up to the side.

***

Lee and RJ were in the playpen, both having fallen asleep from the excitement of the pool party. Nicole was still with Kenny, listening to him talk with Matt Sr. as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Mattie had spent the last twenty minutes looking longingly at the cake.

Joyce sliced it up, passing plates down the table. I’d taken a few of the dishes into the kitchen to load the dishwasher, hoping to cut down on the cleanup time. When I came back out there were three plates waiting at the end of the table. I smiled when I realized it was my absolute favorite—red velvet with buttercream icing.

“Happy birthday, Y/N,” Nick said from my side. He gathered me close and kissed me gently.

Matt slipped up on the other side, dropping little kisses on the side of my neck. “Another year, and you’re still to good for us, Mama.”

I looked up, intending to tell them both how wonderful they were. Instead, I caught sight of them staring at each other, communicating in that silent, synchronized way of theirs. The wheels were turning in their heads, but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was. All I knew was it meant something horrible for me.

Nick’s hand twitched, and I glanced down. His fingers were inching toward the piece of cake nearby. _Ah_ , I thought. _Turnabout is fair play_.

I reached behind me, digging my fingers into the slice of cake until I had two handfuls of cake. “Boys?” I said it as sweetly as I could, forcing myself to look innocent. “Have some cake.”

My hands snapped up, smashing the cake into their faces, smushing it along their cheeks and their foreheads. They gasped, reaching up to wipe icing out of their eyes.

“Oh, you’ve done it now, Mama,” Matt growled, sprinting after me.


End file.
